


Rust

by SummerOfShadows



Category: Original Work, Rust Book One
Genre: Amputation, Beast Races, Coming back stronger, Depression, Everyone lives in the sky, F/F, F/M, Floating Ships, I've been trying write this for five flipping years and it is finally coming together!, M/M, Magic, Paralysis, Pirates, Post-World War III by 700 years, Prosthetics, Rebellion, Steampunk, Strong words spoken by a minor, Technology is all over the place, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-08 18:40:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14699976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerOfShadows/pseuds/SummerOfShadows
Summary: After nearly 700 years under the cruel rule of an organization known as Tvert the people of the sky are beginning to take a stand. The people who's last war left Earth uninhabitable eons ago are preparing to fight another in their only safe refuge, the sky. Piper, a young teen mystery has joined the fight. From the problems thrown her way will her innocence survive or much less will she survive. Follow Piper along on this exciting sci-fi adventure as she and her allies attempt to overthrow the cruel empire.





	1. Chapter 1 (You Can Never Hide)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, I have been trying to write this story for years. First, it was a small five-page notebook short-story, than it was a 23-page intro to a story. It evolved into an entire notebook of 123 handwritten pages that in the end were also scrapped. And now in what I hope to be its final form is what I present to you now. I hope you like this I really want to get this published when I finish it. I'll update every Monday I already have 7 chapters written out each chapter is 2000-5000 words. Also please don't steal if you want to share on other sites plz ask and then credit me and please share with your friends because as I said I want to get this published as an actual book. Also if anyone can translate this for me into any language that would be great.

Metals, iron, tin, steel, brass, copper. These elements are highly coveted as they are used to build the huge ships that hold entire countries, cities, towns, and villages up thousands of feet in the sky. Ever since WWIII the Earth's surface has been too radioactive to approach resulting in these floating masses which were created by some of the brightest minds. 

Humanity has lived in the sky for over 800 years now. An organization known as Tvert became the ruling government, they rule the sky with an iron fist. Most are blissfully oblivious to the semi-peaceful takeover of the organization, but a few are not; it only takes a few to spark a rebellion. 

# 

It was around 100 years ago that pirates began popping up. The pirates will sabotage ship engines, plunder, loot, take over islands leaving mass causalities wherever they go. Pirates are regarded as the worst types of criminals. If you are one the general number one rule is no matter what don’t get caught! 

# 

Piper is 14 years old, orphaned and out for revenge against the empire, she is a captain of a ship called the Rust. It is made of scraps of other ships and true to its name it is covered in red and orange rust. Despite its older appearance it is a sturdy ship and can defend like no other. 

The young girl hung off the side of the ship holding onto a rope. She held her hand over her mismatched eyes to block out the glare of the sun. Her right eye was a piercing vibrant blue while her other was molten gold. They scanned the horizon until they found their target. 

"Island ahead!" She called up to the deck. A young red head peered over the rail, furry fox ears swiveled on top of his head. His brown eyes met hers and he gave her a toothy grin which showed off his pointed canines. 

"What type?" He asked. 

"Village." She answered so they could prepare to sneak on and resupply without being spotted. She tucked a piece of her unnatural white hair behind her ear. The boy's ear twitched and the swish of a tail could be heard. 

"Aye captain!" He called back onto the deck "Pull in the flags!" He relayed the usual procedure. The boy's name is Dex he is three years Pipers senior but acts four her junior. He is the only beast race crew member of the Rust. 

The ships pirate flags held the usual skull and crossbones with a few alterations mind you. TO starts off a crack ran through the skull from the tip of the skull to its bone teeth, and an orange-reddish rust started from the top left corner and faded away at the left eye socket. When passing by Islands they tended to avoid unnecessary combat by pulling in the flags as they were doing now and hiding all pirate related contraband. 

Piper turned around and almost crashed into Riley the sailing master. Riley is a plump man and is her oldest crew member at 34 years old. The man is very smart and an amazing navigator but seeing him without his two human shadows was odd so she scanned the ship for them. 

She looked around for the twins, Bav and Dagger, they should be up on the mast taking down the flags. The 24-year-old's are two of her three gunners but they also work a few other small jobs around the ship and as previously mentioned follow Riley practically everywhere. 

Scanning the deck again she saw James and Charles taking in the guns. James is her third gunner he had only been with them about three months and Piper was still keeping an eye on the 22-year-old to make sure he would not put her other crew members in danger. Charles, on the other hand, was an ex-empire powder monkey but she saved him when he fell off his ship while cleaning an overhanging gun. He was unusually old to be a powder monkey at 17 years old but he was loyal and he acted as cabin boy as well. 

One crew member was hidden from sight, Corafv the ships resident surgeon. The man was three years Riley's junior and was quite as a mouse. He rarely emerged from his room which also doubled as the med-bay. He was reliable but a little too introverted for most of the crew's comfort. She looked around trying to spot the still one missing crew member but did not have enough time as Riley called an order for them to change clothes. 

As they approached the island the dock director, a person in charge of making sure ships parked correctly, began to guide the disguised pirate ship into port. Once parked he held his hand out for the docking toll. Piper mentally rolled her eyes and placed 12 silver coins in the man's palm. The man smiled and walked away back to his station awaiting another ship to guide in. 

Piper turned around to face her crew of which only 7 were present, still missing two. Corafv she could understand he practically never left the ship but Dakota was missing and that was unacceptable. The tall 18-year-old had been below deck probably cooking while they pulled in the flags so maybe he didn't realize they had docked. 

"Kota!" She used the older boy's nickname when yelling below deck. It took a few minutes but finally, a head of black hair appeared from below deck. His blue eyes met with Pipers. He nodded at her and walked into the group of men. 

"Hey Koat!" Dex teased and jumped on top of the older one's back. Dakota barley shifted under the other boy's weight and just grabbed Dex by his collar and put him down on the ground. Piper stood in front of the group and commanded their attention. Once all eyes were on her she began. 

"Now that we are all here~" she didn't get far before getting interrupted by a loud BOOOOM! An explosion rang through the Island. Piper whipped around, her golden and blue eyes met crimson red ones. 

"Found you Conway!" The red eye's owner smirked using Piper's last name. Piper's eyes widened in fear. While there were not many things Piper feared, this red-eyed woman was one of those not many. The woman pulled out a black cylinder from a holster at her hip. She laughed and flicked her wrist causing a glowing rope to pop out of the stick. Piper frozen in fear was only pulled back to reality by Dex grabbing her arm and pulling her back onto the ship. "You can't run from me girl!" The woman's smile was unnatural. 

Riley quickly gave orders to prepare for launch. The folded flags were unfurled revealing the stark white of the cover flags. The engines revved to life quickly not having had enough time to cool down from their landing. Bav, Dagger, and James each took a gun. Charles ran across the deck like a chicken with it's head cut off pulling in ropes and ties that kept the ship in place. Piper snapped out of her funk and began to run towards the helm. Along the way she picked up her discarded pistol and blade and clicked them into place at her hip. She quickly took her place at the helm and began barking orders to everyone. 

"You just don't get it do you?" The red-eyed woman cackled. "You CANNOT escape me!" 

"You said that the last 20 times you've tried to catch me." Piper mumbles as the ship lurches forward engines kicking in ropes keeping it in place gone. "Do we have enough fuel to hyperjump!?" Hyperjump meant the ship could travel at hyper speed and go halfway around the world in a second. 

"PROBABLY NOT!" Charles called from over the rail he hung on by a rope, checking the fuel tanks supply and fighting the loud wind around him. 

"Damn it! Battle stations!" Piper cried. Her gunners were already in place and Riley was ready at the stern with the rocket launcher cannon. Dex was actually sitting still, legs folded across his lap revealing inhuman paws at the ends. He swayed back and forth arms moving methodically. A huge brilliantly colored circle appeared around him. Runes appeared in the circle and began to spin. 

Across the deck Dakota's blue eyes lit up with unnatural light and a holographic screen appeared around him. It showed the island, the woman, and the Rust. 

The red eyed woman must have commandeered a weapons merchant ship as bullets and explosives began to rain down upon the crew from the merchant ship but luckily Rust's defenses held up. Piper pulled out her pistol and loaded it with the magical bullet she saved for occasions just like this and aimed at the bow of the merchant ship and fired. 

The resulting explosion gave enough time for the Rust crew to perform a boost jump. A lesser version of a hyper jump. 

"Brace yourselves!" Riley called out. Everyone grabbed a rail or a nearby solid object. Once the jump finished they realized they had a tracker on the mast. 

"DESTROY IT!" Piper screamed at James who stood there staring at it. He smashed the glowing object with the butt of his sword but was too slow as a loud noise alerted the crew to the arrival of the merchant ship. Piper looked for an escape but was surprised to see hundreds of ships in their way, was it an ambush. Her eyes flickered with fear then hardened. They would fight to their last breath. "WE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM!" She yelled to her crew who echoed her war cry with their own calls. 

"Fire up the hyperdrive!" She shouted after almost thirty minutes of fending off constant attack. 

"But there's not enough fuel especially after the boost!" Charles said angrily. 

"I DON’T CARE DO IT ILL WORRY ABOUT THE DAMN FUEL!" Pipers eyes shone as the sun hit them perfectly. The Rust would make it out, she had to. She ran below deck to change into proper pirate attire. She could feel the ship rock and shake as it took the bullets and explosions at practically point blank. As Piper pulled her binder on she smirked, no one could pierce Rust's armor! Piper ran out as she pulled on her hat. 

The ship entered a jump but the scenery that met them was more ships! Also the red-eyed woman's ship had followed them through the jump. Piper began to panic until she properly scanned the surrounding area and realized they were in a shipyard. She must have been in lady lucks favor as the shipyard was an abandoned one meaning those ships did not have any crews! 

"Turn starboard!" She called to Dex who had in the chaos had taken the steering wheel. The boy gave a foxy grin and threw the wheel to the side. The ship gave a violent lurch as it turned. Piper put her pistol back into its holster and grabbed her blade. She waited until they passed and abandoned carrier and jumped onto the old ship. The merchant vessel passed seconds later and the red eyed woman jumped off whip in hand. 

"Hello again little girl. You can't run from me you know that." She laughed and cracked the whip. Piper glared at the woman watching her movements or lack thereof. It was then that Piper realized it was a hologram. She pivoted around so fast she gave herself whiplash and was just in time to meet the sting of the whip across her face. 

Blood seeped out of the laceration but Piper couldn't feel it with the adrenaline pulsing through her veins. Piper lunged forward with sword held behind her. She swung the blade but it passed through the woman, another hologram! The crack of the whip followed by pain as it tore a long line across her back from her shoulder blade to her mid-back. Piper turned and managed to graze the woman's side as she darted away. 

"Catch me if you can brat!" The woman jeered. Piper growled and slowly turned in a circle to look for the woman. 

In front, behind, above, under, side, the red eyed woman was everywhere and it was driving Piper to the brink of insanity. 

"Stop running COWARD!" Piper screamed angrily. This made the woman snarl and vanish. Piper looked around but not a sign of life was present. Then an excruciating pain from her abdomen. Piper looked down and saw a blade protruding from her stomach. Shit, this hurts, she thought. 

"I'm not a coward girly!" The woman twisted the sword. Piper screamed in pain as the sword dug into her flesh. She saw out of the corner of her eye a flash of black hair. 

"Get off of her Ace!" Came an angry voice. Piper looked up through fuzzy eyes to see the crystal blues of Dakota's eyes. She sighed in relief as the woman known as Ace let go of the sword. Ace jumped back and growled at Dakota. 

"What are you doing here?" She seethed. 

"Protecting Piper." He answered. 

"You? Protect her? Ha, don't make me laugh little brother!" Piper sunk to her knees weakness taking over her body. She looked over at Dakota and frowned. That woman was his weakness after all who wants to murder their sibling especially one you shared the womb with? Well actually don't answer that. 

"Don't call me that!" Dakota snarled. 

"Kota we have to go!" Piper wheezed as she noticed another ship approaching. On it's deck was a Dakota look alike. Dakota followed her line of sight and grimaced. 

"Oh good it'll be a family reunion!" Ace said in a cheerful voice. 

"Dex! PORTAL NOW!" Piper screamed into the open air. A swirling energy appeared and she could see the mast of the ship. She tried to stand up but her legs kept failing her. Dakota noticed the portal and began to run towards it. He passed Piper not realizing her predicament. When he crossed into the portal alone he finally looked back and noticed Piper attempting to stand up. 

Dakota ran back through the portal and grabbed the young girl. Piper was too weak to argue. The portal closed right as Ace tried to enter through it and her whip was cut in half. 

"H-h-hy-p-e-er j-jump n-now!" Piper gasped out and then consciousness left her.


	2. Chapter 2 (Of Broken Limbs)

"Infertility and paralysis." Corafv told her after she awoke. She had fallen into a coma for three months. Her wound as she learned was a severed her spine causing paralysis anywhere below her waist. The sword had also damaged her reproductive organs rendering her infertile. The damage was done and Piper was devastated. She had dreamed of raising children once she freed the sky from the empire and she was now a cripple. 

Dakota being first-mate had taken up the position of captain in lieu of Pipers predicament. During Pipers coma Dakota had picked up a ton of supplies including a wheel chair for Piper much to the girls disapproval. Piper refused to touch it instead tried dragging herself everywhere. Dakota repurposed Dex as a info broker. During Dex's adventures he managed to acquire reliable information on the location the rebellions fleet, which most just called the Xeon fleet. Finding the fleet had been Dakota and Dex's dream since they had launched the Rust for the first time over 5 years ago now. Piper didn't want to because she knew no one would take a little girl seriously amongst adult men. She was not looking forward to the coming days of foolish boys and men. 

Piper sat on her new perch, the ships figurehead a black fox with one diamond eye and one gold one. It had become her thinking spot and recently it was her only spot. The figure head was a tribute to her and her oldest friends. The fox for Dex, black material for Dakota, and the gold and diamond eyes for Piper. She sat still on it for hours at a time looking off blankly into the distance. None of the crew were stupid enough to bother her as they all learned the hard way that Piper had turned into Viper, a name courtesy of James. 

Dex jumped up next to her without saying a word, which was not uncommon now, and sat beside her. He turned and simply pulled her into a hug. He could feel his shirt getting damp from the tears that spilled from the young girl's eyes. Sometimes everyone forgot that Piper was only 14. 

"We have almost arrived at the location we received." Dex said quietly after almost 2 hours of just sitting doing nothing he didn't really say it to Piper directly. Piper made no movement no noise nothing it was only the quick rise and fall of her chest told Dex that she was still awake and not asleep. 

"Dex!" Riley called the boy's name from the stern. Dex groaned and gently tapped Pipers shoulder. Piper sat up and allowed him to go see what Riley wanted leaving her alone with her thoughts once more. 

Piper tended to observe more now that she couldn’t do anything useful, one of her more recent observations was Dakota's rough voice. She could hear him giving orders from the deck his voice raw from talking much more than he was used to even after 3 months. Piper turned her attention back to the vast expanse of the sky and realized that the Rust was surrounded by a bunch of camouflaged ships. 

"There are ships here." She said simply in a monotone voice. The statement had a much different effect on the crew. They quickly jumped into action preparing for either battle if they were empire ships or negotiations if it was Xeon. Piper looked blankly at the distorted space and saw a red bird that appeared to be on fire. She pulled out her pistol from its holster at her hip and fired at the animal. After the shot all the ships dropped the camouflage revealing over 100 ships decked with guns and decorated with golden detail work. 

She looks up at what was obviously the flagship of the rebellion, the Arcadia. The Arcadia was a ship from the sky war salvaged and renovated. It was huge next to the Rust but then again, the Rust was actually a small ship so comparing the two wasn't exactly fair. But even when measured up against another huge ship like the Queen of Spades, and empire flagship headed by Ace, it was nearly twice the size of the Queen. The info gathered on the Arcadia said it had a huge crew of around 340 men. 

"Who are you?" A loud voice boomed. Piper looked on the other ships deck and saw a man. She knew his name well at least the one he went by, Firebird, he was the head of the rebellion. Dex jumped back onto the figure head as the Rust floated upwards so its deck was at the same level as the Arcadia's. 

"Who are you and what do you want?" The brown-haired man called. 

"We are a pirate crew our ship is the Rust and our captain is Piper Conway." he pointed to Piper. 

"The child?" The man laughed thinking it was a joke. 

"Yeah but acting captain right now is Dakota." He throws his hand back pointing to the tall boy. 

"I knew it wasn't the child." The man grins still thinking it had been a joke. Piper did not take kindly to the mans disregard for her skill and pulled out her pistol and shot making it the second time she shot at the man. Firebird stood stock still as a bullet took off a few strands of his chestnut hair. 

The group of crew members on the deck of the Arcadia pulled out their swords and guns. Firebird held his hand up telling the men to stand down. He looked at Piper his golden eyes searching her mismatched ones. 

"Don’t underestimate me!" Piper growled golden eye glinting in the sunlight. 

"You want me to respect you girl, then fight me in a duel!" Piper's eyes widened at Firebirds challenge. "C'mon get up girl." He told her, Pipers frown deepened. Firebird grew annoyed at the blatant disrespect. He jumped onto the figure head of the Rust before anyone of Pipers crew could do anything. He grabbed her arm and yanked her upward causing the blanket she had wrapped around herself to fall. 

She wore her usual attire a binder and shorts with a half skirt on. Because the binder only covered her chest the wound which no longer needed wrapping was visible. Red angry skin stood out brightly against the pale skin of her stomach. Firebird gasped and let go of her arm. Piper yelped as she fell back to the ground. Firebird was on the ground seconds later. 

Piper groaned as the fall jolted her and looked at where Firebird had been standing only to see Dex's fluffy tail blocking her view. 

"You have a death wish." Dex snarled ears buried in his hair tail twitching in anger and hands locked in a ready to rip into position. 

"Dex get off of him." Dex got in close to the older man's face and whispered some sort of threat that Piper could not hear. "For your information I cannot stand as I was stabbed in the back by Ace of the empire a little over 3 months ago." She explained from her seat. Firebird just laid there dumbly on the ground staring at her. 

"We came to make and alliance but I'm not so sure I'm going to let our crew mingle with egotistical jerks!" Dex snarled. Dex is the jokester the happy one until you mess with Piper or Dakota, and well Firebird just messed with his Piper. Piper held her hand up and slid her way down the figure head back onto the deck. She tried to stand up even knowing the outcome wouldn't be any different. Even with the knowledge she still tried to stand and after almost five painstaking minutes she finally relented. 

"Dakota." She grumbled defeated. Dakota looked up and met her eyes. 

"Wheelchair?" He asked simply. Piper looked at the ground and nodded in defeat. Dakota brought over the chair an lifted Piper into it. Firebird watched confused as Piper rolled towards the stern of the boat. 

"Hey what about the negotiations!?" Firebird cried indignantly at Pipers ignorance. 

"I'm not captain right now idiot!" She yelled from her spot. Firebirds eye twitched and Dex smirked. Dakota stepped forward taking his que. 

"Oh right it's you so let find somewhere to sit and then begin." Dakota nodded at Firebirds statement and led him below deck. Piper watched them go below deck and watched as the crew of the Arcadia went back to work, the new ship not so interesting anymore. Piper grabbed the wheel rims and tried to move forward but she realized the angle of the ship kept her back. 

Really in this day and age of tech could they not make a motorized wheelchair, they used to exist in abundance? She knew the answer, she knew they existed but were very expensive as the parts were rare for it not to run on electricity. It was sadly more than even a pirate crew could afford. She pushed harder and the chair began to move. It was slow but she made her way to the bow of the ship. She looked over the rail and saw the rest of the rebellion fleet. Despite her annoyance she could help but go slack jawed at the vast amount of ships. 

When she was little and still lived on the island of Kjuwei (Cu-sh-way) she hero worshiped the rebellion fleet. She knew every ship at that time. Even now she could pick out the Pegasus and the Trident. She couldn't see the Chemical-X and she knew she wouldn't ever see the Galliant as it had gone down 5 years ago in a battle against the empire. 

Piper sighed and looked around the deck for something she had dropped hours before. When she spotted what she was looking for she allowed herself to roll backwards a little bit. She picked up the tattered notebook and the pencil that lay next to it. She picked up the notebook and flipped through the worn pages. The pages contained words and pictures detailed and realistic. When she flipped to a blank page she sat there thinking of what to fill it with. Should it be an image or words she did not know but she knew she needed a release for this anger and frustration. 

She didn't even realize she had begun to write until she was half-way through. It took her another hour to come to the last stanza. As she finished the poem she looked at the sun which had begun its descent. In the waning light she read the first part of the poem out loud. 

Legs won't listen any longer, 

Won't respond to my commands. 

Pale and unmoving, 

Even so their pristine appearance fools the blind. 

Leave me, leave me to rot away. 

Underestimated and pitied the anger and frustration boil, 

Bubbling over then shutting down locking everyone out. 

Unable to fight, useless to defend 

Just a heavy burden one not worth the fight. 

Leave me, Leave me to rot away. 

Duels unmatched and captain's duties unfulfilled. 

A flaming bird flies through the sky with thousands of doves behind. 

Watching them fly free hand reaching to grasp what cannot be reached. 

Leave me, Leave me to rot away. 

She was startled out of her poetic trance when arms wrapped around her. She relaxed when she realized it was just Dex. 

"We will not leave you to rot away." He whispered. Piper made no movement as Firebird, Dakota, and the rest of the Rust crew came back on deck minus Corafv. 

"Welcome to the rebellion." Firebird said with a smile extending his hands outwards. More ships appeared behind the Arcadia leaving camouflage mode. It took every bit of Pipers self-control not to show her surprise at just how much bigger the rebellion fleet was than they originally thought. "Your class will be frigate if what you say is true about escaping Ace." He stated before jumping off the rail. The crew panicked minus Piper. Seconds later a phoenix flew upwards and landed on the rail of the Arcadia. The phoenix began to shed its feathers and in it's place was Firebird. 

"Oh so that's why he calls himself Firebird." Dex mused.


	3. Chapter 3 (Im Weak)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delayed update Memorial Day was yesterday and I did not have time to post this then.

"Bav!" Piper yelled as the young man played around with his gun shooting bottles on the tops of barrels. Bav looked at her confused. "Don't play with guns!" She scolded. Idiots, she thought to herself. One month, it had only been one month and she was about ready to strangle her crew members. 

"Firebird's comin'!" Charles called from the upper deck. Finally, Piper thought, it's not like she requested to meet with him four hours ago. She looked around for the trailing flames of the phoenix and spotted them above the ship. 

"Yo!" Firebird saluted while perching on the rail. 

"I asked to see your four hours ago!" Piper said angrily. 

"I am the leader of the entire rebellion fleet you are not my first priority girl." He replied upset. "You seem to me so far just an entitled brat, I tried to be nice, to respect you, but when you show me no respect I cannot and will not respect you!" Piper growled she was pissed she had been respectful. Dex had used his magic to see what was holding Firebird up and when they looked Firebird had young women hanging off his arms and was drinking. 

"Yeah because prostitutes are more important than us." Dex growled. "Those girls didn't even look legal!" The fox-boy bared his teeth. 

"How the hell did you know what I was doing!?" Firebird screeched much like his bird counterpart. 

"I have magic like you duhhh." Dex rolls his eyes. 

"Firebird I asked to see you because you named us a frigate ship so why are we not involved in any of the recent battle's?" Piper asked through gritted teeth. Firebird facepalmed and push a growling Dex out of his face. 

"Because the captain of this ship is a cripple and cannot lead!" 

"I’M NOT CAPTAIN RIGHT NOW, DAKOTA IS!" Piper screamed her temper rearing its ugly head. 

"And where is he hmmm? A captain should be giving orders not cooking meals." Firebird fired back. 

"He is our cook our only cook what else are we supposed to do?" Piper asked through clenched teeth attempting to rein in her anger. 

"Teach you how to cook and have you in the kitchen where women belong! Then maybe someday you'll make a good wife and supply a man with many children" It happened in seconds. Piper threw herself out of the wheel chair and punched Firebird right in the jaw. As she collapsed she grabbed his shirt and held on tightly. 

"Women are not just for making babies, cooking, and pleasing you men!" Firebird growled as Piper hung on. 

"Get off of me girl." He said quietly to Piper. "The next raid is in 2 hours get ready!" He said loudly so the rest of the crew could hear. Piper slumped to the ground as she let go of Firebirds shirt. The man transformed into a phoenix and flew off to the Arcadia in the distance. 

"MY NAME IS PIPER NOT GIRL!" She yelled after him. 

Piper was lifted back into the wheelchair by Riley who cursed Firebird out under his breath. Piper thanked the man and went over to her new room. The room was at the back of the ship under the gun deck. The room used to be Riley's, he slept there so he could be prepared to navigate should a sudden storm hit. 

Now the single room was Pipers room since the wheel chair restricted her to the deck. She hated being so useless. Once in the privacy of her own room she grabbed one of the rails that were used to steady oneself when they hit turbulence. She pulled herself out of the chair and leaned on the rail. Her legs moved like jelly and failed to hold her weight when she leaned on them. 

She collapsed to the floor in a heap of anger and frustration. She pulled herself back up taking time to appreciate her growing arm strength acquired from her need to maneuver the wheel chair around. She groaned and crawled over to her bed and pulled herself up next to the bed was a worn wooden nightstand with a old notebook sitting peacefully on it. The notebook was bound in leather and whatever golden lettering had been the title was now too worn to read, the pages were browned and yellowed with age, and the spine looked manhandled. Piper reached over to the nightstand and pick up the worn notebook and she proceeded to opened to a blank page and began to doodle. 

Hours later she was still drawing when the ship lurched. Piper fell off the bed and rolled into the wall. She gave a pained grunt as she pushed herself away from the wall and reached for the wheel chair. She pulled herself into the chair and took off the wheel locks. Making her way to the door was a challenge as the ship lurched several more times. Finally, she got to the door and opened it. Outside was a literal war zone. 

She saw the Trident in front of the Rust, and behind was a ship she didn't know the name of. She was almost caught by a bullet that embedded itself into the wood next to her head. She rolled up next to Dex making sure not to get to close and get in the glowing circle that surrounded the boy. She looked around and remembered Firebirds words to the crew. So, he had been telling the truth she thought. She pulled her pistol from a pocket on the side of the chair and began to do what she could from her place on the deck. 

When she spotted the enemy ships, she groaned. While Firebird had kept his word, he put them against and easy enemy. The empire ship, Murky Waters, was piloted by a bigoted colonel. He was fat and lazy she had once watched him grab a kid in a battle forever ago and use the kids body to block the bullet. The kid had died after being shot in the head... twice. 

"Charles what the hell are you doing?" She scolded the boy as he ran back and forth upon the deck firing randomly. 

"I don't know!" He replied hysterically. 

"Well stop wasting the ammo!" The boy had the courtesy to look ashamed. "Dammit!" She cursed as a particularly strong blast hit the side of the ship causing it to lurch. She put the pistol back into it's holder and took off the wheel brakes. 

The ship lurched to the side much more violently than any other time. The rail Piper had been using to move faster gave under the her and the wheelchairs combined weight. With the rail broken the chair fell off of the deck and down to into the open sky. Piper hung onto a piece of dangling rope watching as the sunlight reflected from the metal. She groaned with the exertion she put out to pull herself back onto the deck. Dex noticed her trying to climb back on and ran over to help. He grabbed her upper arms and pulled her up on deck. 

"Are you okay?" He asked. 

"M' fine." Piper grumbled as she looked over the edge watching as the wheel chair vanished from sight. Dex's attention was pulled away by Charles crashing into him their bodies colliding. The two collapsed into a heap and Dex was quick to shove the slightly older boy off of him. Dex pulled a sword from a sheath slung on his back and ran it through the body of a Tvert soldier. Charles whimpered as the dead body fell on top of him soaking his shirt with red copper scented liquid. 

"Get up!" Dex yelled at the other boy who was quick to shove the lifeless soldier to the side. Dex grabbed Piper's arm and slung her over his back like a ruck sack. Piper growled, she hated being this useless. Dex ran to the helm and put her down on the figure head. The other rebellion ships couldn't believe their eyes. The figure head of a ship was practically a big target saying hit me here, for any ship. 

"DEX!" Piper screamed at him. "Don’t leave me here like a sitting duck!" She yelled at his retreating form. She began to crawl her way down the figure head dragging her ever useless legs behind her. Just as she almost got off the fox's head a barrier appeared and she smacked right into it. She rapped her hands against the barrier screaming her lungs out at Dex even though the boy was nowhere near her. But seconds later there was a loud popping noise. Piper's eyes snapped to the new arrival. 

She turned white as a ghost, right there behind the other empire ships was the huge looming Queen of Spades at its helm was Ace! The tyrannical woman was sneering at the chaos and turned her head slightly, seconds later the Dakota look alike from 4 months ago walked up beside Ace. 

"Tyridell." she heard Dakota hiss. 

It happened in slow motion, the empire ships parted making way for the Queen of Spades or at least that’s what Piper thought. Her assumptions were shattered once the ships helm was in sight. Her breath caught in her throat and her blood ran cold. A huge energy cannon was sitting under the helm the bright white light glowing as a too late warning to the oncoming blast. Piper screamed as a beam shot out of the cannon and raced towards them. It hit the barrier and shattered it instantly. The beam continued straight through the main mast, the searing quick burst of heat causing the metal to explode instead of just melt. Metal shrapnel flew everywhere and one managed to hit a hyper fuel tank. Exposed to the sudden heat the fuel tank burst lighting the left rear side of the ship alight with flames. 

"Dex!" Piper called out but she couldn’t hear if he replied or not over the loud ringing in her ears. While watching the flames as they ravaged wood portions of the ship she saw a blur moving through the flames. Seconds later the figure stumbled out and she realized it was two figures, Bav and Dagger. Piper swiveled around to look out at the Queen of Spade and nearly passed out. The cannon was white again meaning.... the sound it produced when it fired this time was ear piercing. 

Piper realized it was a sonic blast and if they didn't move now they would be dead. She looked up and the steering wheel and realized it was in the flame covered part of the ship. She growled in anger, she would have to use the one thing she hated the most. She pulled herself back onto the figure head and placed both hands on the onyx surface she closed her eyes and breathed. 

Her eyes shot open the whites of them were all that was visible. The ship was engulfed by a soft golden and baby blue glow, the light was gathered more prominently around her palms. She didn't hear the pop of another ship hyper jumping behind the Rust as she was too focused on the blue gold hue. 

'Move' She whispered and all of a sudden, the ship gave a lurch. When she opened her eyes, they were almost 700 ft from where they had been a mere millisecond ago. She had failed to also bring some of the cargo as it remained in the blast radius. She couldn't even have counted to one before the crates that had been forgotten by her were turned to dust, annihilated the second the sound wave hit them. 

Piper lifted her one hand from the helm to wipe away a small stream of blood that was dripping from her mouth and nose. She watched the Trident, their companion ship in this battle, ram into the front line of empire ships and then return to them with only a few scratches on its helm. The larger ships hyperdrive engines kicked on and with a loud pop that was more like a bang, it vanished. She gasped when the Rust almost collided with another much, much larger ship. She looked up and gasped, what was the Arcadia doing here!? She saw Firebird jump off the rail and fly over to the empire ships in his bird form she watched as the man flew under the wooden parts of the ships his flames spreading to the ships. The flames reminded Piper of the flames upon her own ship. She lifted her hands from the figure head causing the gold blue hue to vanish. 

"James put out th-he flames!" She screamed gurgling a little as blood pooled in her mouth, she quickly spit it out over the side of the ship. As soon as the flames were out she placed her hands back on the figure head than in her head she pictured the rebel ship yard. In a silent flash of light, the Rust was gone vanished from the battle field.


	4. Chapter 4 (Loss of Limbs)

It had been three hours since the Rust and her crew returned to Xeon. When they returned Piper was pissier than ever she refused to let Corafv look at her even though she was still bleeding heavily from her nose, the blood coming from her mouth having stopped thirty minutes after they returned. 

"Yo Viper you got to get looked at cause if and when you decide you want to be seen we might not be around to walk you there." James said annoyed with the girls' stubbornness. Firebird who had returned only minutes ago snickered. 

"I'm not Viper!" She growled at the nickname. James fed up finally walked away bringing Firebird with him. Piper continued grumbling under her breath until she was startled out of her grumpy state by the quite surgeon in question. 

"James told me ve are refusing treatment." Corafv spoke with a thick accent. Piper looked down at the ground still quite annoyed that they were treating her like a child. Piper pulled herself up and used the makeshift crutches to make her way to her cabin none to gracefully. Once inside she slammed the door shut on Corafv's face and locked it. She wobbled over to the bed and let herself fall onto it. She tossed the crutches to the side and they fell with a metallic clang. 

Piper screamed into her pillow before propping her head up on her hands. In her bout of anger, she rolled over quickly and threw her pillow at the wall, she missed and it instead hit her lamp causing it to fall to the ground and shatter. 

"GAHH!" She cried angrily. As she stared at her unmoving feet she noticed an odd shadow that covered her toes. She used her hands to move her legs to try to make the shadow move but it wouldn't. She then decided it was probably just dirty and she would wash it in the morning. She closed her eyes and fell into a restless sleep. 

Piper awoke to an excruciating pain in her feet. She shot up in her bed a silent scream coming from her mouth. She looked down at her legs and gasped in horror. From her toes to her knees was shriveled black skin and bones. She shrieked in horror and procced to throw herself out of the bed. 

She managed to drag herself to the door and unlock it. She fell onto the deck as someone opened the door from the outside. She looked up and saw the stark white of Corafv's hair, which practically matched her own white. His blue eyes quickly scanned her body and widened in horror once they spotted her black legs. 

"PIPER!" The man yelled at her. "ZIS, ZIS is why I vanted to check you over!" He was angry and when Corafv got angry everyone stayed out of his way. Piper cowered in the man's shadow. Corafv picked her up bridal style and sped down the stairs to the med bay. 

Once in the med bay Corafv grabbed his tools. He immediately grabbed something that looked like a microscope lens on the end of a metal tube. The box the tube was connected to had a large black screen. With the press of a button the screen came to life. Corafv quickly held the end over Piper's legs and gasped. On the screen could see the inner working of her lega and he was quick to notice the five chunks of shrapnel imbedded in her legs. How had they not seen them before he thought to himself after looking at their point of entry(s). As he got tools out to prepare to remove the shrapnel a scream tore him from his thoughts. He turned back around to see Piper thrashing and her back arching off the bed. Then it him. 

Hyper fuel was running through her body! Hyper fuel was made of all sorts of waste and chemical and things of the unsanitary sort, it was death in a liquid form! Corafv almost lost his composure but collected himself back immediately, Piper's life depended on him being calm enough to operate on her. As he tried to sedate her she kept thrashing out of the way, he needed someone to hold the girl down. He looked to the door determining the risk of going above and getting help. When Piper unconsciously grabbed a scalpel and made a fist around it causing the sharp blade to dig into her palm drawing copious amounts of blood, Corafv decided he needed help. 

"HELP!" Was the only thing he said before running back down to Piper. He gasped as he watched Piper arc and begin to roll off the small cot. He managed to catch her and push her back onto the bed. Looking at her legs his heart nearly burst. In the seconds he was gone the black had spread from her calves to almost the tops of her thighs. Firebird and Dakota burst into the room. Piper let out another strangled scream muscles flexing and sweat dripping down her body. 

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Firebird asked before he saw her legs. "By the gods!" He exclaimed seeing the black. 

"Hold her down I need to sedate her!" Corafv demanded. The two men each put a knee on the small girl's side and pressed down. Corafv grabbed a plastic mask connected to a gas tank. He quickly placed it over her mouth and let the gas inside flow into the white-haired girls' lungs. Within seconds the convulsions faded away. Corafv immediately got to work removing the shrapnel from her legs. He got out 3 pieces when Piper started thrashing again. Dakota and Firebird who had not left the room rushed over to hold her down again. Corafv paused and took a step back to observe the situation. He sucked in a breath and muttered a desprate, no, under his breath. 

"What is it?" Dakota asked. 

"Za fuel has soaked into her bones." Corafv replied. 

"What does that mean?" Was Firebird's sole question. 

"It veans I'm going to need your help." 

# 

The crew of the Rust began to worry at the one-hour mark with not a single update on their captain, then as one shifted into two they began speculating, at three they tried to nominate someone to go down, at four Dagger threw his namesake embedding it into the remnants of the destroyed mast, at five they heard a rainbow assortment of muffled cursed words. 

At six they sent the timid Charles down to see, when he came back up he refused to divulge what he had seen and looked positively shaken to the core. At seven Riley was about to go down when a haggard Dakota stumbled into him. 

"What's happening?" Riley asked eyeing the rest of the crew of whom where peering like misbehaved children eavesdropping from the opening to the deck. Dakota opened his mouth as though he was about to speak but then closed it and shook his head. "No." Riley gasped and tore through the ships small hall to Corafv's room. What he saw nearly made him pass out or it might have been the stench or both either way it did make him loose the contents of his stomach. Under the cot where two, though very black, recognizably human legs not attached to a body. 

He ran to a tin but did not make it time as the contents of his stomach pushed their way out violently. Once he managed to stop the heaves he looked at the cot and saw Piper. She looked incredibly young and small on the large cot made for adult men. Her complexion was incredibly pale and where her previously useless legs had been was nothing but air. Riley could stomach death and gore but when it happens to a child even if that child is a warrior he loses all control. The man decided he had enough and rushed out of the infirmary and away from the stench, which his mind just registered as burnt flesh. 

The others quickly dodged out of the older mans way and after smelling the stench that came along with Riley's retreating form the crew decided for their sanity, to remain far away from the infirmary lest they see whatever it was that Dagger, Riley, and Dakota had seen. 

Dex pulled away from the group panic filling his mind. Riley had smelled of death as he ran by. Ignoring the awful smell, he rushed into the infirmary the scream that tore from his lungs would be remembered in its agony and despair. He looked upon the young girl taking in the pale complexion, the blood on the floor, the severed charred looking limbs under the cot. All of a sudden, the ship lurched and there was a large fox with six tails standing over Piper's prone form. 

Firebird who had passed out as soon as Corafv had made the first cut into the poisoned limbs, had just woken up. His inner phoenix let out a shriek at the large predator in front of him. The fox snapped around to face him at his shriek. The fox bared its teeth and growled at him a promise of pain if Firebird dared to near the beast. The tails swished in agitation as it stood over the disabled girl's bed. 

"Dex! Your upsetting the balance of za ship!" Corafv scolded the fox. Firebird gaped he had assumed that Dex was a normal fox not a Multa Fox. A multa fox was the denotation for a fox with more than one tail whether it had 2 or 8. Corafv knew Dex wasn't in control right now it was his instincts running him but talking him down was the only way to calm him down. "Dex Vy fixed her up best I could. Now ve must wait to see vhat happens next." Corafv continued reaching out to pet the fox's orange fur. 

Dex whipped around to the doctor and bit down on the man's extended arm crushing the delicate bones in his massive jaw. Corafv gasped in pain and surprise, this was new. Dex ground his teeth together as he growled through the limb in his mouth. Corafv couldn’t stop the small scream that came from his mouth. 

Dakota already alerted by the lurching of the ship than piqued by the small scream came into the infirmary. 

"Dex." Dakota's quite but commanding voice demanded the large fox's attention. Releasing the arm from his mouth Dex turned to Dakota, kin. Dex's attention was on Dakota who walked up to him and placed his hand on the multa's head. Dakota smirked than pressed into the fur, a pulse of light emanating from his palm. The fox fell to the ground and shrunk into its usual boy form. Corafv held his now broken arm close to his body. 

"I can't have Dex doing this every day." Corafv grumbled looking at the mess the fox's tails had made. Firebird was finally shook from his stupor by Dakota. 

"Do you have an infirmary on the Arcadia?" Dakota asked the man. If Piper could be moved to the Arcadia, Dex's transformations would be no issue to the much larger ship. 

"Yes." Firebird muttered. 

"Can ve move Piper zer?" Corafv asked. 

"No." 

"Vy not!?" Corafv spat. 

"We go into battle almost daily, it would be detrimental to her healing if she heals at all that is." Firebird stands up. "This, this is why women shouldn't fight, they aren't built for it." He growls now getting angry at this extra setback. 

The three men continued to discuss where to put Piper and Dex while the girl healed completely unaware of the listing ears. Finally, it was decided Piper would be moved to a ship called the Crystal Card, the ship had a large infirmary. 

Firebird turned into his phoenix form and lifted the stretcher that Dakota placed Piper on. Dakota got a life boat and used that to move the still unconscious Dex. When the crew members saw Piper they all had varying reactions of despair. Some screamed, some cried, and others denied either way it got the attention of near bye surrounding crews who looked to see the commotion. Many gasped seeing the small girl with no legs being lifted away from the small ship.


	5. Chapter 5 (Of Metal Limbs)

Piper waited till Dakota and Firebird were gone before looking down at her legs, or lack thereof. She went only seconds before breaking down sobbing. At least before there had been a chance of healing her legs but now, now there was nothing to heal. She screamed and threw the vase of flowers beside her bed at the wall. It crashed and shattered into thousands of pieces just like her life was. 

A group of medics burst in slamming the door making a loud bang! Piper jumped at the sound and looked around but couldn't see a single recognizable face. Pipers eyes began flickering back and forth and her breath hitched. She didn't know when she had begun petting a cat sized fox but she was thankful for the animal's exceptionally soft fur as it gave her something to focus on. 

Piper unknowingly sat there for hours petting the fox though to her it seemed only seconds. In that time doctors came in and out checking out her remaining upper thighs since the impromptu amputation of the limbs did not allow for precision and caution to be a top priority. When Piper came back to reality it was night time and by this hour the doctors were only popping in every half hour to make sure she was still okay well as okay as she could be. Piper accidentally raked her nails up the foxes back as she came to. The fox barked and nipped at her hair. When a doctor came in and saw her looking around in confusion he called for the others and walked over to Piper. 

"Hello Piper my name is Dr. Richard I am the head doctor here on the Crystal Card." A man wearing an unusual black lab coat introduced himself. "I am in charge of your care till we reach a town where you can blend in." He informs the young girl. Piper looks confused. 

"B-blend in?" She stutters a little after not talking for almost a full day now. 

"Yes sadly. You cannot remain here with no legs before you had a chance at being healed but now well..." He trails off pointing to her missing legs. Piper growled animalisticly. 

"I saw multiple people during my time here missing a leg or and arm!" She defends. 

"Yes and they have enough of a limb remaining to attach something too or it doesn’t impact them too greatly." He argued back certain he had won the dispute. 

"HRP." Piper said looking down. 

"What?" Was Dr. Richards very articulate response. 

"Hyper-Realistic Prosthesis it was in a magazine at an island before we joined you guys, it was in the approval stage so by now it should be on the market." Piper looked down at the fox now asleep on her lap. 

"DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT COSTS!!!???????" Dr. Richards screamed making Piper recoil in fear. "YOU SPOILT BRAT THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PLAY ADULT! Deal with the consequences of your foolish decisions!" Piper was done being called a brat or spoiled or a child. 

"Look here Dr." She said doctor very slowly" I have not been a child since I watched my mother and my twin sister get gutted by the empire when I was six, oh and not to mention the rest of my village! Stop treating me like a child!" She. "And by the way, I have more than enough to pay for 18 sets of HRP arms and legs." Dr. Richards was surprised when an invisible force threw him out of the room violently causing the door to slam shut after him. Piper looked at the fox on her lap who yipped and licked her nose. 

Piper sighed. 

"Dex I know you're trying to avoid advanced emotions right now but I really need your help." She told the fox. The fox looked up at her a bit of betrayal in its eyes. See, Dex would turn into his fox form to avoid having to face tough situations or avoid confrontation. "Dex you can't always run away." She scolded the fox. "I need you to find the nearest empire town or city," Piper instructed the fox. She pulled out a pouch from a bag of her stuff that had been brought along and handed it to the fox who took it in his teeth. "Go to a Mech shop and arrange for an appointment, there should be enough money in there to pay them to not say a word." She said pointing to the pouch. The fox nodded and jumped off the bed and into a swirling portal. 

# 

Dex appeared in a city alley. Walking into the road he saw he had appeared in the slums of the city. He saw many beast race families along with some human and surprisingly a sole elf. Dex decided to ignore them for now first the empire than the inequality. Slinking through the shadows Dex made his way to the main road. Once he was along the main road he weaved between legs, hooves, and other limbs. He watched the signs of the shops and followed them. The one good thing about the empire is they separated their shops by district in cites. There was the food center, home needs, beauty care, metal works, and more. Dex was relieved to hear the sound of a hammer smashing into cooling metal. He raced towards the sound and quickly located the metal works district. He saw signs for shops that sold car parts, ship parts, tools, metal décor, and finally a mech shop. Dex hid behind a large sheet of metal and transformed back into his boy form. 

Making sure no one was watching Dex slipped back into the street and made his way into the shop. The sound of a bell alerted the owner of the shop to Dex's arrival. The owner a was a burly man, he wore a once white wife beater now turned grey with grease and worn denim shorts. He was into his mid-forties if his bald head told anything. The man was working on something over the furnace when Dex walked in. Hearing the bell go off he stopped his work and put the goggles that covered his eyes upon his head. He took a small ratty towel to wipe the grease and accumulated sweat from his face. 

"What can I do for ya?" He asked Dex in a deep husky voice. When his eyes fell on Dex's ears and tail his eyes narrowed. "I don’t think your kind can afford my services and I ain't-a charity, boy. " Dex growled his canines biting his bottom lip. 

"First off I have plenty of money and it's not me who needs your services, it's my friend." The man's eyebrow raised at the beast-boys assumed pretentiousness. 

"The way ya stated that it sounds like there are strings attached." He subtly questions Dex. 

"My friend must be not seen by this cities people and you must never talk about her afterwards," Dex said eyes taking in every muscle twitch and every nervous habit. 

"Aight who the bloody hell am I dealing with and what makes you think I won't go right to the police now!?" The man asks angrily. Dex smirks and pulls out the bag of coins and lets it down heavily on the counter. 

"I believe this should be enough for two fitted legs and have enough left over to keep mouths shut." Dex sneered. The man cautiously opens the bag and gapes at the contents. The man's eyes fell on 40 rhodium coins, the rarest and highest value currency. One rhodium was worth 1000 gold coins to give a comparison. 

"Um ya have a deal, my lips are sealed. You can either have two sessions or one long one. One for measurements than the fitting, or if you wait for a few hours I can fit them then and there. By the way the names Todd." Dex let out an odd noise but if Piper was there she would have known it was a noise of appeasement. 

"We will go for the one, when do you have and open time?" Dex asked. 

"Anytime I'm completely open not many people have been by lately." Dex smiled this was only getting better and better. 

"Today." Dex said before disappearing into a portal. 

# 

"GAHHHHH!" Piper screamed as Todd attached another wire to her exposed nerves. She clenched poor Dex's hand causing the fox boy to cringe at the pain. 

"Almost done only about 13 more wires to connect," Todd told her. When the procedure was finished metal would cap her stumps and act as a fastener for the HRP. 

With each wire, Pipers screams grew and finally after what felt like an eternity later Todd was finally done. Todd wiped up the miniscule amount of blood that had come from poking and prodding around and then stood up. 

"The ports are done now. I need about six hours to make the actual prosthetics." Todd said as he wiped his hands. 

"Okay we're going to take a much-needed nap." Todd rolled his eyes and got to work leaving the two children to themselves. 

# 

"Wake-up c'mon you need to wake up!" Came a desperate voice that penetrated Pipers resting psyche. 

"Mr. Todd?" She said showing her age for a second. 

"You and your friend need to go! Somehow, they found out I swear I didn't tell no one!" At this revelation, Piper woke straight up. 

"Is there time to attach the HRP?" She asked. 

"It'll be real painful to attach 'em so quickly." Todd spoke quickly. 

"Do it or I'll be a dead weight." Todd nodded and grabbed the metal limbs. He lifted Piper up onto the table again and aligned the metal leg with the port and pushed it into place. He grabbed a strange screwdriver-like tool and notched it into a small nut on the side of the port and turned. Luckily Piper had grabbed a cloth to muffle her screams so all that was heard were muffled curse words. Todd rubbed around the port to ease the pain before continuing onto the next one. Repeating the process Piper's body thrashed in pain as he once again connected the nerves. 

"Go now you and your friend need to get out of here I'll distract them, and once you're out rest you shouldn't be up on the prosthesis now even." Piper looked bewildered. Todd not realizing she was stilled dazed by the sharp pain lifted her off the table. She immediately collapsed into a heap when Dex rushed in. 

Todd had woken up the boy first and he had been holding off the soldiers. Dex looked worriedly at Piper before slamming the door behind him and shoving a crowbar into the handle to keep the soldiers out. 

"Dex? Bring." Piper said weakly. Dex nodded and then grabbed Todd and Piper's arm as the door was blasted in. It happened in a matter of seconds the trio was pulled into a portal and an officer lunged trying to reach through the portal but instead, his now severed limb sat on the deck of a ship. Todd was wide-eyed and staring at Dex in alarm. 

"What did you just do!?" Todd exclaimed. 

"Just saved your life." Dex muttered quietly before making a shushing motion as someone passed on an overhead deck. Dex ushered Todd into a side room. " Welcome to the Crystal Card designation medical facility for the rebellion." Dex said spreading his arms. Not two minutes passed after shutting the door till it thrown open. 

"Captain I found her!" It was Dr. Richards looking incredibly pissed. Then the anger on his face turned to surprise as the girl rose from a heap. "Hh-h-how!?" He screeched than gasped as the glint of new metal came into view. 

Piper smirked and pushed past him. After her short nap, she felt better than new and now that she could move she knew exactly what she wanted to do. She grabbed what looked like a skateboard with no wheel from a box of the objects and jumped over the rail of the Crystal Card. She placed the board under her metal legs and her eyes began to glow. 

What she had grabbed was called a holo-board. They worked by pumping your energy into them to power them, with this kind of drain they were not for long distance transportation. Piper began to panic when the boards motor did not deploy causing her to pump even more energy into the holo-board. The golden and baby-blue glow that stopped at the metal ports slowly crawled its way down in thin tendrils finally making contact with the board bringing its engine to life. 

"WOOOOOOOOOO!" Piper screamed after feeling the board sputter to life and the wind whip into her face. She quickly spotted her target, The Arcadia. She smiled when she saw The Rust, though small in comparison next to The Arcadia looking no less strong than the massive flagship. She pushed more energy into the board to propel it forwards faster. Firebirds crew noticed the incoming object but couldn't tell if it was a weapon, a person, or something else. 

"C'ptain incoming!" Called Firebird's first mate Conall. Firebird looked up just in time for Piper to land at his feet. 

"I accept your challenge!" She cried pointing at Firebird in a childlike manner, reminding everyone of her actual age. 

"GODS ABOVE girl!" Cried Todd who sat behind Dex on an air bike. (A floating motorcycle) "You need to go through at least a little physical therapy before you go runnin around on 'em!" Todd scolded her. 

"H-h-how!?" Firebird gasped out. Piper rolled her eyes at both men's antics, then a wave of dizziness came over her. She made to walk to Firebird but instead, she stumbled forwards. Firebird caught her around her waist still stunned by the supposed disabled girl standing in front of him. 

"See?" Todd called as the bike landed on the Arcadia's deck. "Impudent girl." He mutters under his breath. A voice came from the Rust which had been close enough to observe all the confusion. 

"Viper your alive!" It was James who spoke. Piper gave the boy a weak glare as she regained her sense of balance using Firebirds arms as a brace. Todd shuffled over and took Piper from the still stunned Firebird. Piper still dizzy did not fight to stand on her own.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave reviews on what you think I can improve and also can anyone give me tips on how to publish a book.


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